1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable stripper apparatus for stripping insulation from an electric cable.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a cable stripper apparatus having a wire feeder and a cutter for stripping insulation from an electric cable.
2. Background Information
When a house, office or factory is rewired, enormous quantities of scrap electrical cable are generated. In the past, in an attempt to recover the valuable metal such as copper from the used cable, such scrap cable was burnt so as to remove the plastic insulation therefrom. However, with the advent and implementation of rigorous Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Natural Resources regulations prohibiting burning of waste plastics on electrical cables, the recovery of such valuable metal has been challenging. Primarily, the EPA and Department of Natural Resources regulations introduced approximately 15 years ago were introduced in order to prevent the release into the atmosphere of harmful gases given off during burning of plastics materials such as wire insulation.
More specifically, the approximate value of stripped copper wire is 50 cents per lb. However, the value of unstripped copper wire is only approximately 16 cents per lb. The cable stripping apparatus according to the present invention provides an extremely efficient means for rapidly removing insulation from electrical cables of various gauges.
Applicants prior application which was granted as U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,853 discloses a wire stripper apparatus which includes a spacer bar which can be exchanged for another spacer bar of a different thickness so that the machine can be adapted for stripping cables having different gauges or thicknesses. However, although the arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,853 operates very efficiently for stripping cable, the changing of the spacer bar has been found to be inconvenient and has made it necessary to stop the machine while such spacer bar is changed to accommodate the different type of cable being stripped. The present invention provides a unique way of enabling an operator to handle different gauge wires with minimal slow down in production.
Therefore, it is a primary feature of the present invention to provide a cable stripper apparatus for stripping insulation from an electric cable that overcomes the problems associated with the prior art arrangements.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a cable stripper apparatus for stripping insulation from an electric cable so that insulation can be stripped from different gauge wires.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art by a consideration of the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention contained herein.